Container Corporation of India (Concor), a public sector undertaking under the Indian Railways, has recently developed India?s first trans-shipment terminal at the Cochin Port in partnership with international port terminal operator Dubai World. Concor?s managing director Anil K Gupta talks to FE?s Praveen Kumar Singh about the company?s future plans. Excerpts:
You have entered port terminal operations. What are your plans for the port sector?
We operate 61 terminals and more than 230 rakes today. These are our strength. All our plans are centred around our core strength in operating inland container depots (ICD). We want to increase the throughput at our ICDs. We have entered port terminal operations with this intention only. We will keep doing what is required to take our business forward.
What is the throughput now?
Throughput up to January 2011 was 2.13 million tonne, a growth of more than 7% year-on-year. We want to comeback to 12% growth year-on-year as soon as possible. We had expected this year to be the year of recovery from the slowdown that had hit us in 2008-09 as global trade came down, when we actually carried a lower throughput of 5.7%. This year, the several agitations on railway lines and the iron ore export ban in Karnataka affected our operations. But for these, we would have grown by 10% this year. Even now I expect to finish the year with 8% growth. Next year, we would like to grow by at least 13%.
Is the throughput equally distributed during the year?
There is a trend that the last two quarters give us more revenues than the first two. Our experience show that 55% of our business comes in the last two quarters.
What will help you achieve 12% growth in 2011-12?
We are ready with the capacity. We did not halt our capital expenditure plans even during the slowdown. The moment the traffic picks up, we will see a higher growth.
Has international traffic started growing?
International traffic constitutes 80% of our business. Global trade has started picking up this year and international traffic is up 9% till now, while domestic is up 3%.
The Railways increased haulage charge by up to 4% from January 1. How has that impacted your finances?
Yes, the finances have been hit as we have not been able to pass on the full increase. Freight rates are already perceived to be high by the industry. And if we increase the rates further, the traffic may shift to roads. We have tried to make up for the loss on this count by stopping the operation of empty rakes. This way we have saved on haulage charges, which are payable even on empty rakes.
How has competition affected your operations?
Fifteen private container train operators have entered the sector from 2006-07, but their traffic share is only 25% and we move the rest of traffic. We are not bothered about these operators as the market size is big enough to keep everyone busy.
What is the progress in Concor?s plan to foray into the logistics park business?
We are building logistic parks. We are actively working on two logistics parks?one in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, and one near Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh. These two will be ready next year. More parks are being planned.
You had also tied up with MSIL and HAL for air cargo terminal?
We were operating a air cargo terminal with MSIL and HAL in Bangalore. Our job was to accept cargo and transport that to the freighters at the airport. The partnership is unfortunately is no longer there because the new airport has come up, and as per the agreement the airport developer has to develop a cargo terminal of its own. So our air cargo terminal has almost closed. We have also made a joint venture with HAL to develop an air cargo terminal in Nashik, Maharashtra. We have started using this terminal for sea cargo, but we are preparing to use it for air cargo. Air freighters will be invited to come to Nashik to pick cargo. The talks are on with airlines on this.